Waiting For You
by een nihc
Summary: Sometimes when you missed the opportunity to do whatever you should’ve done but didn’t, fate make it impossible for you to redeem it. EdWinry.[EPILOGUE added] Spoilers from movie The Conqueror of Shambala.
1. Waiting for you

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist.

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Waiting For You

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Some said waiting is a very personal thing. It can be so personal that no one knows about it except the one who waits. Sometimes the one who waits don't even realize it himself or herself.

Some said waiting is a very vague thing. It can be so vague that one doesn't even know when it begins and when it ends. And there was no such thing as the rule of Equivalent Exchange in it. There was no guarantee that you will get whatever that you've been waiting for in the end even if it means that you've waited all your life for it.

Different people had offered their own interpretation. She didn't quite understand it either. But she hadn't let it bothered her a bit.

_I'll wait till he comes back._ Such beautiful resolution. Only for him.

He never asked her to wait. She never told him she would either. But she always waits and he always comes back to her whenever he needs her to fix his automail. It has almost become a habit. And she'd always known he had the bad habit of not saying goodbye.

However this time the circumstances were different. No one knew where exactly he went, whether he's still alive or dead. It seemed as if he had simply disappeared and Al wasn't by his side this time. The thought of it worried her but she had faith in him, especially in times like this, that he wouldn't do such a thing to her. He wouldn't keep her waiting if he would never come back to her. He would at least say goodbye in his own fashion of not saying it.

So she waited. Two years she waited, maybe longer. Maybe she had been waiting for him all these years, for him to come back to her and never leave again. She waited while she continued living her quiet life as an automail mechanic in Resembool. Al came back to Resembool for a while but he soon left again to train under Izumi sensei like good old times, except this time Ed wasn't by his side. She bid farewell to Al at the train station. The Elrics brother used to be always together. Wherever she saw one of them, the other one wouldn't be far away. It was nostalgic to watch him leave alone this time. She'd missed seeing the other pair of golden eyes.

Call it fate and whatever terms that has equivalent meaning, she met him again when she least expected it. She ran towards him and hugged him. All the things she wanted to say to him were crystallized into two simple words like the Red Water into the precious Philosopher's Stone - "Welcome home." And he knew instantly that she had waited for him.

She surprised him more when she opened her big suitcase and revealed that she had his automail custom-made and prepared all this while. She even got his measurement down pat and it fitted him perfectly. He appreciated her efforts and he wanted to thank her for everything but time was not by their side. He had a world to save and everything else could wait. She could wait. Or so he thought. He was off to save the world before he could thank her in the rush.

How could she not understand this? Not understand him? Of course she had understood all that and more. He wanted to save her and to do so, he had to save the world first.

He made her wait again and she would wait as long as he wanted her to. But time waits for no one. He had yet to learn his lesson that sometimes when you missed the opportunity to do whatever you should've done but didn't, fate make it impossible for you to redeem it.

She finally heard it – the unspoken words that he was trying to tell her when she saw the crashing plane detached a part of its wings.

_Sorry and thank you, Winry. Wait for me no more._

He had bid his farewell this time.

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A/N: I'm feeling down while writing this after I've watched the movie. Though the movie was good, I'm not satisfied with its ending and what they did to Winry. It left a dull pain in my heart.


	2. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist.

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Waiting For You: Epilogue

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Time passed. Ed did not return that day nor the next, that year nor the year to come. Ten, twenty, thirty years went by and Winry went on waiting for his return. Her once lovely blond locks turned grey, her once firm and smooth skin became wrinkled… until finally she was no longer the pretty, vigorous teenage girl she once was.

He told her not to wait but she remained. Many more told her to give up, to forget and to move on. She listened, said nothing, did not argue but did not budge either. In the end, all they could do was just let her be. Including the many young eligible men who had fallen for her over the years.

She lived alone now since Granny Pinako and old, faithful Den had passed away. She spent her days doing what she did best – continue her automail business in Resembool. Her skills had earned her the reputation as the best automail mechanic in Amestris over the years.

Her automail business kept her busy most of the time but when she was alone in the house, she would often spend her time gazing forlornly at the photos she had pinned on the bulletin board. The photos were of the Elrics brothers, their childhood photos, and her photos with others during her travel. Those were the golden years and good old memories. But as the years passed by, the photos no longer brought tears in her eyes but instead put a smile on her face as she recalled the memories they had shared.

One day, when she was busy repairing an automail limb, she heard a knock on her door. The spanner in her fist dropped to the floor when she opened the door and found an all too familiar silhouette standing on her doorway. She recognized him at once.

"Ed!" she gasped, choking back her sobs.

"I- I'm home," he murmured. Winry clasped her hands on her mouth to contain her shock and disbelief. It couldn't be real, could it?

But here he stood, right in front of her, looking wearier than she had ever remembered. He had endured so much hardship and pain. After spending all these years running from home, from her and everyone, he finally had returned to her.

"Welcome home."

It had been too long.

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A/N: Actually this fic was meant to be one-shot but I couldn't resist the urge to write this epilogue as a more satisfying closure to this. Hope you'll enjoy reading.

Many thanks to my beta-reader, Isee. She had done a great job.


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